Cancer. This one word designates many diseases, with more than 100 different types of cancer. Still, they all have one thing in common: their cause, the fact that abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and acquire the ability to invade other tissues.3 Most types of cancer get their names from the organ or cell type in which they start (e.g., breast cancer, melanoma, which is a skin cancer involving cells called melanocytes).3
Cancer is a global health concern, with an estimated 14.1 million new cases occurring in 2012. Prevalence estimates for 2012 show that there were 32.6 million people (over the age of 15) who had had a cancer diagnosed in the previous five years.4
Thanks to the therapeutic achievements of recent decades, such as early identification and improved treatments, today millions of cancer patients can prolong their lives.1 Lately, cancer management has even evolved from a disease-focused treatment to a more holistic approach, centered on the patient as a whole, and not only on the cancer alone. This new focus encompasses healthy lifestyle habits such as exercising, getting enough sleep, not smoking, managing stress and eating a nutritious diet.2In that regard, good nutritional status may be of help in tolerating cancer treatments. That is why we at Nestlé Health Science are committed to developing nutritional therapiesthat help patients during cancer therapy.
1.http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/002048-pdf.pdf.
AccessedDecember2014.
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/mindbodyandspirit/holistic-medicine.
AccessedDecember 2014.
2.http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/cancerlibrary/what-is-cancer.
AccessedDecember 2014.
3.http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2013/pdfs/pr223_E.pdf.
AccessedDecember
4.http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/nutrition/HealthProfessional/page4.
AccessedDecember 2014.
5.Singapore Cancer Registry Interim Annual Report. Trends in Cancer Incidence in Singapore 2010-2014. Available at: https://www.nrdo.gov.sg/docs/librariesprovider3/default-document-library/cancer-trends-2010-2014_interim-annual-report_final-(public)-updated-23-oct.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
Accessed 10 March 2016.
